How to add widgets to your desktop in macOS

Just as you would with your smartphone, macOS lets you add persistent widgets to the desktop. These widgets are extremely useful when you want information at a glance, or want to perform certain actions quickly and with a minimum of fuss.

Apple includes several first-party widgets that are deeply integrated with core Apple apps such as Notes, Calendar, Reminders, and Mail. These widgets come in multiple size options showing a wide range of glanceable information. Widgets for Notes and Shortcuts let you instantly take notes and trigger Shortcut scripts, making access to these much faster.

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On top of these widgets, a number of smartphone widgets are also accessible on Apple Silicon Macs. Third-party apps can also support widgets. You need to have the app installed on either your smartphone or your Mac for the widget to show up.

Add widgets to a Mac desktop

To add a widget to your Mac desktop, either right-click on the desktop or ctrl+click to open a context menu. Here select ‘Edit Widgets.’

A widget gallery will now show up and you can click to select a widget that you like. There’s also a search function built in if you’re looking for a specific widget. Clicking on each widget category will show you a variety of size and layout options that you can choose from.

Once you’ve picked a widget that you like, simply drag it anywhere on the desktop to place it there. By default, widgets will align themselves to a grid for a more aesthetic and pleasing effect.

To change the location of an already placed widget, simply click and drag to move it. Hit ‘Done’ in the Widget Gallery window once you’ve selected all the widgets you like.

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Live widgets on the desktop can be interacted with simply by clicking on them or on elements within the widgets. On some widgets, you are even allowed to scroll through information and/or layouts depending on what you want to do.

To remove a widget, head to ‘Edit Widgets’ and hit the Remove or ‘–’ button to delete it from your desktop.

Widgets are a fun way to not only make your desktop more personal, but more functional as well. Experiment with the various options and let us know what you came up with!